Gates
by Pyralis Anacreon
Summary: A meeting at the Gate, between two people who have experience with dying.
1. Chapter 1

Gates

* * *

A meeting at the Gate, between two people who have experience with dying.

* * *

Daniel Jackson was on his way to Ascension, again. It was his second time around, so he knew what to expect.

But he was not expecting this.

He found himself in front of a tall gothic-styled gate, made of stone with an eye carved onto its doors. All around was utter white nothingness. The most unexpected thing, however, was the blond haired boy shouting at the thing.

"Your mother was a plastic garden gate!" The boy said, kicking at the doors. He then proceeded to insult its ancestors with some very creative imagery and curses. After a while, Daniel cleared his throat to announce his prescence. The boy turned, stared at him. "Who the hell are you?"

Daniel was a bit taken aback by the rudeness of the statement, but answered nonetheless. "Um, hi. Daniel Jackson." He waved.

The boy stared at him. "Huh. Edward Elric. Call me Ed."

After a few minutes of staring and awkward silence, Daniel couldn't take it anymore. "So, where are we?"

"We're dead. I think." Ed said as he sat down on the doorstep of the gate.

"Well, I knew that. But this isn't really what I was expecting." Daniel looked up and around.

"Me neither. It's supposed to open and pull you through."

"You sound like you've done this before."

"Ah... twice, actually." Ed looked a bit sheepish.

"You've died twice? Wow, I've only managed once. Good for you."

"Thanks. How'd you die?"

"The first time it was long and painful due to extreme radiation poisoning." Ed nodded sympathetically. "And this time I was in an enemy spaceship in space when it disintegrated."

"Space, really? That's a lot more exciting than mine. I tried to resurrect my dead mother when I was eleven, and after that it was a bomb that destroyed the me of another reality while I was in his body, and this time I got stabbed by my immortal half-brother through the heart."

"That's interesting."

"Not nearly as much as it sounds." Ed assured him.

They sat in silence for a bit, but it was more comfortable this time.

"So, Ed. You've been here before. What is this thing?" Daniel motioned to the gate.

"That's the Gate of Truth. I suppose it thinks its a god or something. You go through it when you die. Or, you're supposed to at least. For some reason it's not letting us through just yet."

"Huh. Last time it was a Stargate." Upon seeing Ed's puzzled look, he elaborated. "A vertical ring with water-like stuff in it. Let's people travel to other planets with Stargates instantly. Built thousands of years ago by the Alterans."

"Sounds cool."

"Yeah. You know, I thought I was on my way to Ascension."

"Then I think you're at the wrong Gate. This one goes to Hell, or something like it. You took a wrong turn somewhere."

"Actually, Ascension is the process of shedding the physical body for the consciousness to ascend to a higher plane of existence." Daniel explained.

"Whatever you want to call it." Ed shrugged amiably.

Daniel sighed.

Just then, a bright light appeared before them. Barely visible inside was a woman's face.

_"Daniel, you've strayed from the path." _She told him, sparing a glance for Ed.

"Yeah, I got that." He said.

_"Come on, I'll take you back."_

"What about Ed?" Daniel asked, looking at his new friend. Ed was watching interestedly.

She looked sharply at the boy. _"His kind are not welcome."_

"Hey, old hag, I should--" Ed stopped short, blinking. "Ah, never mind, Daniel. My brother's resurrecting me anyway. See you." And with that Ed vanished.

Daniel blinked. "Alright then, I guess." He stepped into the Ascended's wavy strands of light, and was on his way again.

* * *

_Unscheduled offworld activation._ Said Walter over the com.

SG-1 was in the control room in minutes, looking at a closed iris. General Landry stood behind Walter, who had just found that there was a radio signal coming through. Sam helped him connect to it. A voice came in fuzzily.

_-a Daniel Jackson there, please put him on._

"There's no IDC, sir." Walter offered the confused General.

"Jackson?" Landry asked.

"I don't know either, sir." Jackson shrugged.

Landry pressed a button and spoke into the mike. "Hello? Who is this?"

_Hey, an answer!_ There was the sound of scuffling and talking in the background, and a voice saying very distinctely '_I can't believe I'm letting Fullmetal make first contact with another people._' _T__his is Edward Elric, from the country Amestris. I'm looking for someone named Daniel Jackson. Do you know him?_

Landry twisted his head to look at Daniel. It took him a few seconds, but the archaeologist finally remembered. "Oh, Ed! I'm met him while I was dead. The second time. Here, let me talk to him." Among the bewildered faces of his coworkers, Daniel leaned over the mike. "Hey, Ed. It took me a while to remember."

_No problem. Do you know how many gate addresses I had to try to find you guys? Hundreds, I tell you! I was starting to think it was one of the ones I'd forgotten._

"You memorized hundreds of gate addresses?"

_Well, I would have done them all but the Gate doesn't let you hang around for more than a few seconds when you're inside._

"Daniel." Mitchell said in a warning tone. "I think you have some explaining to do."

"Yeah, sure, but it'll probably be easier in person. Can they come through?" He asked General Landry.

The General was at a loss, not really sure what to do. "If you can vouch for him."

Daniel smiled. "Do you want to come over here in person, Ed?" He asked into the mike.

_Yeah, sure_. In the background, the same voice from before said '_Shouldn't you ask permission first?_' and Ed's voice said '_Like you'd say no._'

Landry smiled. "Open the iris."

"You can come on through now." Daniel said.

And whatever they were expecting, it was not what they got.

* * *

I could really continue this, but I don't want to ruin it. I know it doesn't end well, but, meh. I didn't even mean to take it this far. The original ending was going to be Daniel recalling that he'd met Edward while dead. Then it was Mitchell speaking. But now this all sounds like a prologue. Damn. Feel free to plagiarize, adopt, or copy, as always.


	2. Chapter 2

Hang

or

Gates, the Sequel

or

In Which Impressions Are Made, and Ed Finds Love (But Not Really)

* * *

SG-1 and General Landry sat around the over-sized table, silently trying to reconcile this new information with what they already knew about the world. It was a long process, and quite complicated.

"Why is it that Daniel's always the one who meets the interesting people?" Whined Vala.

* * *

ONE HOUR EARLIER

The briefing room was silent, as General Landry had left for his office to report to his superiors about the new development at the SGC. Considering other things that had happened there, this was a mild incident, barely a footnote on their record. But it would soon become much bigger. Maybe even an entire chapter.

Cam Mitchell finished his musing (see above) before the General emerged, and so was left to stare about the room. He took a long look at 'Ed', the kid Daniel had supposedly met while he was supposedly dead. The boy was lounging in a chair, spinning idly and seeming completely at ease. He looked to be twelve but was actually eighteen, as his little brother, Alphonse, had told them in a careful whisper. Al at least was normal sized for his age, thirteen. The younger brother was as mysterious as the older, though considerably more kind and less volatile. They'd already heard Ed blow up at a man over the radio, one he'd called many colorful names.

The rest of his group seemed a bit less at ease then their guests; they weren't exactly on edge, more curious than anything. Still, the quiet (punctuated by the squeal of Ed's chair as he spun it) was unnerving. Finally, Teal'c's hand shot out and grasped the back, stopping the rhythmic squeak.

Everyone, including Al, gave him grateful looks. Ed huffed but didn't try to break the man's grip.

Just then, the door to Landry's office opened to reveal a hounded-looking general. Cam immediately guessed the man had spent the last twenty minutes playing phone-tag with bureaucrats and toadies.

The General say down and tried to exchange pleasantries with their guests (ambassadors of a sort). But Ed was a very cut-to-the-chase, skip-the-BS, kind of guy, and he jumped right into the first question.

"So what is this place? What do you do here? Daniel wasn't exactly clear on it." He addressed his questions to Daniel, as that was the only person in this room (aside from Al) that he knew and (marginally) trusted.

Landry cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. "This is Stargate Command, SGC, on the planet Earth. This is the base of the Stargate program, which includes exploration of the galaxy, making allies with other peoples out there, and making weapons with which to protect ourselves from other threats in the galaxy." _Although there aren't too many of those anymore_. He added in his mind.

"Well, that all sounds good and noble. Too good. This base is military-run, and if I know anything it's that the military does nothing that doesn't benefit itself. What's the catch?"

_What a cynical child_. Was the general thought on everyone's mind.

Al elbowed his brother in the shoulder, then winced and rubbed his arm where it had hit(1). "What my brother means is, we've found there's usually an ulterior motive. He thinks its always something bad. To his credit, he's right most of the time."

"Well, I'll admit there are people in our government who want things run differently here. But I can assure you that so long as I run this base, I will do all I can to stop those people."

Ed nodded, and he seemed satisfied that this man at least was one of the honorable people.

"And what do all of you people do here?"

"We make up a team called SG-1. Not to brag, but we're at least indirectly responsible for the destruction of three technologically advanced races bent on galactic domination. We're kind of famous." Daniel said.

Ed nodded, unimpressed.

"If you don't mind, we have some questions of our own. For instance: how did you find us? And I'm still unclear on how you and Dr. Jackson met." Landry said.

"Well, I died after being stabbed by my insane half-brother, and I met Daniel here at the Gate. We talked, and he mentioned this Stargate thing, so when I went through the Gate a bit later I focused on that thing, and there was a damn lot of information on it in there. Made my head hurt for days, I tell you. I memorized as much as I could. Later, when I got home, I remembered meeting Daniel and I was really bored, so I figured I'd check this out, 'cuz it seemed interesting. I knew the general location of the gate, and I got funding to dig it up and get it running--that was fun--and then I started trying every gate address I got from the Gate. And that's a lot. I was starting to think we'd never find you. Lucky you mentioned the shield-thing, or I'd have splattered." Finished with his tale, Ed sat back to enjoy their faces.

"I don't think you clarified anything for them, brother." Al muttered.

* * *

(2)Before being allowed to go anywhere else, Ed and Al had to be examined by Dr. Lam for foreign diseases they might unleash upon the unsuspecting SGC members. Basically, she needed to take some blood and give them a standard doctor's checkup. Unfortunately, this involved needles.

"No! Get that thing away from me, sadist!" Ed protested loudly as she approached with a needle.

Al sighed. "They just need some blood, Ed."

In response, the older brother snatched a nearby knife and slashed his palm. "Here! Just get the damn needle away from me!"

Dr. Lam gasped and ran for something to stop the bleeding, and Al shouted, "Brother!" in a very exasperated tone.

Ed held his hand over a tray with raised edges and clenched his hand, letting blood fall, before he clapped his hands--a lot less firmly than usual, due to the cut--and touched the wound. The edges knit themselves together and mended, not even leaving a scar.

"I love medical alchemy." He commented, flexing his hand.

Dr. Lam came rushing back to find that she wasn't actually needed. Ed pointed to the tray and asked, "Is that enough?" and she nodded very quickly, likely worried he'd slice himself open again if there was a chance that it wasn't.

"Honestly, brother. Needles hurt far less than what you just did." Al sighed.

"Needles are a perversion of all things natural. They're an instrument of torture used by sadistic doctors." Ed growled.

Dr. Lam booted them from her infirmary before even more blood was shed.

* * *

Waiting right outside was Colonel Samantha Carter. Upon hearing her rank, Ed had been wary, but since ascertained that she was nothing like the Bastard (who was worthy of a capital letter, in spite of Ed's better judgment). From what he'd seen so far, she was an intellectual and a pretty good soldier, too. Worthy of respect for any normal person, but Ed was not normal.

"So where are we going now, lady?"

"Brother!" Al admonished. "I'm sorry." He said to Sam.

She found herself a bit bemused at this duo, who acted like Jack and Daniel when Jack was still on the team. "That's okay. I'm here to take you back to the briefing room. We still have a lot of questions, and I'm sure you do too."

"Alright then, let's go." Ed said, starting off.

"Do you even know how to get there?" Sam asked, following. Al rushed up to join his brother.

"Pretty sure. This way, right Al?" Ed said, motioning to the left.(3)

Sam shook her head and let them take the lead, ready to step in when one of them finally admitted to being completely lost.

* * *

The three burst into the briefing room, having almost run the entire way there. Sam straightened right away, flushed with embarrassment more than exertion, and tried in vain to fix her rather wind-blown hair. Ed came in, slowing to an easy walk and looking very pleased with himself. Al was last, nearly barreling into Ed.

"Colonel." Landry said in a tone that was both a greeting and a question.

"Sorry sir. I was escorting them here when Ed mentioned being curious about how exactly the gate works--"

"I had my theories, but only Al could keep up and we think the same way anyways." Ed put in.

"--and so I went to my office to get him the book I wrote on it(4) and then we got sidetracked by a naquadah generator I was working on--"

"Say no more, Colonel." Landry interrupted her fast talking. "I understand, just take a seat."

Looking a bit sheepish, she sat down beside Teal'c, ignoring his unreadable stare.

Ed, who had since the infirmary come to respect the wealth of knowledge Sam held, realized quite suddenly that he'd never heard the huge man speak

"What's that thing on your forehead?" He asked. It looked suspiciously similar to a homunculus tattoo, but he wasn't about to risk the mission and the Bastard's whining just to see if the man's head would grow back when chopped off.

"It is the symbol of the false god Apophis, whom I used to serve. He is dead now." Teal'c rumbled.

"Good for you. There is no such thing as a god." Ed said cheerfully.

Teal'c's eyebrow rose, somewhat surprised to find that he did not seem to intimidate the young Edward at all.

"I've been wondering..." Cam started. "Why would your government send you and your brother here--I mean, why not someone... older, or, uh, more experienced?"

Ed looked decidedly unimpressed with Mitchel's attempt at tact. "Because there is no one more experienced than I am. There is no one better suited for this. I'm the guy they send in when they don't know what else to do." And Ed smiled knives.

They all digested this, and Al mentally hung his head in shame at his brother's flair for the dramatic. He also plotted revenge against the Bastard Ed had learned it from.

"Aren't you a bit... young?" Asked Vala.

Ed snorted. "If I was any older it would've killed me, and I wouldn't have come back."

* * *

There had been several more hours of talking, in which SG-1 learned a bit about the Elrics and their world, and the Elrics learned a lot more about Earth and the galactic situation. Also, the conversation had often turned to technology and science, as both brothers were eager to hear about all of the advancements of Earth. During these scientific times, Ed, Al, Sam, and occasionally Daniel, were to be found talking at the speed of light about things no one else could make heads or tails of.

By the end of it, Ed was pretty sure he'd fallen in love with Sam's brain.

The group stood before the gate, already dialing out, and said their goodbyes, arranging for further trips and communiques in the future. SG-1 and the General waved the brothers Elric out of the SGC.

When they were gone, there was silence.

"That was new." Daniel commented.

"I know. No one tried to kill anyone, nothing blew up or malfunctioned, and no one was kidnapped. I think we're starting to get the hang of things." Cam said cheerfully.

* * *

(1) He is on Ed's right, and thus elbowed Ed's right automail arm, causing more harm to himself than to Ed, who didn't actually feel anything.

(2) This is back in present time, for those of you who are confused.

(3) He memorized the route on the way down, just in case they needed to escape. Knowing their luck, it still might happen. (FORESHADOWING)

(4) In the episode they get the super-power armbands from the Tok'ra, Sam finds time to finally write a book on wormhole physics. That's my second favorite episode, right after the one where Teal'c and Jack are stuck in a time loop and do all sorts of crazy stuff.

Due to reviews and responses to Gates, I have decided to extend it a bit. Don't expect much more.


	3. Chapter 3

Truth

or

The Sequel to Hang, Which Is the Sequel of Gates

or

In Which Ed Is Missing In Action (Again), and Mustang Does Much Sighing

* * *

The talks with the people of Amestris had been going well; they'd gotten to the point of trading technologies and the meeting of world leaders. Sort of. The Amestrians at least trusted them enough to send their Fuhrer through the gate in person, albeit with guards. Coming with the man was some examples of the things the Amestrians had to offer--and the SGC had been assured, what they had to offer was great.

To be fair, most were reserving judgment on what a civilization stuck about a century into their past could have for them.

Whenever the meeting was held at the SGC, the Elric brothers were the ones who were sent, and vice versa for SG-1. It worked. Ed and Al already had a (varying) rapport with members of the SGC.

The first people through the gate were the brothers Elric themselves, who immediately turned to watch two other people come through. The man in the lead had dark hair and a black patch over one eye, dressed in blue military finery. The woman at his right and slightly behind was in the same uniform, though a bit less decorated, and had blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. Ed's face was set into an expression of annoyance, like just being in the presence of this man was harmful to his sanity.

General Landry wondered what kind of man this Fuhrer was, to instill such hostility in the older Elric. Of course, knowing Ed as he did now, it could have been any number of reasons, some even good.

The Fuhrer was led up to the briefing room by Ed and Al, who probably knew the layout of the entire base by then. Up close, Landry could see the man's black eye, narrowed in calculation and thought. The woman with him, presumably a guard, was attractive, but not distractingly so. She was alert, yellow eyes darting around the room. Like they were in enemy territory.... Good to be wary, if not entirely respectful of their alliance.

They sat down at opposite ends of the table. The Earth ambassador hadn't arrived yet, but all of SG-1 was seated at Landry's end. Ed had insisted on their presence, probably because he trusted them to tell the Amestrians when they were being fed bullshit, and the Fuhrer had backed him up.

"Fullmetal." The Fuhrer said, looking meaningfully at Ed.

The young man sighed, rolled his eyes, and said in a tone that clearly stated he was being forced to do so, "Fuhrer Mustang of Amestris," He waved a hand flippantly in the darker man's general direction. "General Landry of the SGC, America, Earth." Motioning to Landry.

Mustang half-glared at Ed, then smirked. He seemed very good at smirking. "Fullmetal may not have told you, but he's a general in our military."

Ed sat up straighter, his accusing glare telling Mustang he had no right to reveal that (ignoring that he actually _did_) and several eyes widened.

Landry cleared his throat. "Ah, no, actually, he did not." Shooting a glance at Ed, wondering. The blond was back to slumping in his seat, glaring balefully about the room.

Mustang's smirk had not faded, but he turned to the real object of conversation. "Now, you want technology to advance yourselves, and you offer it to us... in a limited amount. If we had something you wanted, you would pay more to get it. I understand this correctly?"

Well, he put it a bit blunter, but that was technically what they'd said. General Landry, mildly embarrassed at his government's tight fist, told him so.

Mustang smirked again, but instead of the earlier _'I'm going to piss you off for my own amusement' _smirk, it was more of a '_I know something you don't know' _one. It was actually more annoying than the first. "Well then. Fullmetal is here both as a guard... and a demonstration." Then he nodded at Ed.

Edward couldn't resist big and flashy impressions, even when they benefitted the Fuhrer, and so it had been reltively easy to convince him to do they following(1).

He clapped his hands together, and placed them on the table. It glowed and lights shot from it, but not enough to obscure the plain fact that the table was becoming something that was not a table. When the light show faded about three seconds after it started, there was an intricately carved wooden horse, each hair in its mane and coat visible down to the finest detail. It was caught in the motion of rearing up, mouth open in a silent whinny, hooves pawing the air.

"I thought we agreed on a statue of me." Mustang muttered in a tone that was _definitely_ not whiny, not in the slightest.

Ed shrugged and gave a smirk of his own.

* * *

After the explanation of alchemy (which was met with awe and suspicion by Sam, and left Daniel slightly speechless) Ed had gone on to show them his automail (though not without much protestation at Mustang using him like a display stand) which prompted more explanations and a promise to bring in Ed's mechanic, Winry, to give a more in-depth view of the prosthetic.

And then Landry had to report to his superiors, and the ambassador arrived, the last two hours were repeated for the man, they moved the horse out and brought in an actual table, and things were arranged. Ed, however, had flatly told the Fuhrer he was not going to do any more than he already had, and Mustang was lucky he'd consented to this much. So he was left out of the plans.

Theirs, at least.

* * *

Ed woke up, and subsequently became aware of a throbbing lump of pain on the back of his head. Why did his head feel like he'd gone up against Greed, Envy, and Gluttony all at once? Oh, right. He'd been with Sam and Al in her lab, and there was a military guy calling them back to the briefing room, and then there were more military men waiting outside. He'd barely had time to react before the one had walloped him over the head. And it had taken two more hits in the _same spot _to knock him fully out, he recalled. He let himself feel a bit of pride that even dazed and taken by surprise he had been able to take one of them out.

Wait--Al and Sam and _Al_! they must have them, too, and he'd been kidnapped before, he knew the drill. They would use Al against him, they would _use_ Al, _hurt_ him.

It was around this time Ed opened his eyes and found himself in a concrete cell, alone, watched by one of those cameras. His automail arm was gone, but his leg thankfully was still attached. With only one hand and a bare cell, they couldn't handcuff him, but without his arm to make a circle, they had rendered his alchemy useless.

Or so they thought.

First he felt the knot on the back of his head, the blood still wet but not flowing anymore. He used it to draw a faint array on the door, and then transmuted his way out. First things first, to find Al--or his arm.

* * *

Mustang sighed. Fullmetal had once again gotten himself kidnapped--or he might have staged the whole thing to get out of the base, but that was pushing even for the volatile little alchemist. Either way, he was gone, and Mustang was left to deal with everything else. He mentally cursed the older Elric, who seemed to do this sort of thing just to irritate the Fuhrer.

"You don't seem very concerned at all for your subordinate, Fuhrer." General Landry said in a faintly accusing tone.

"Of course not, it's Fullmetal. If he hasn't escaped by now, those poor people who took him are wishing he had."

Those assembled to deal with this breach of security were confused, causing Mustang to sigh again.

_Dammit, Fullmetal._

* * *

Ed had been caught again, shortly after breaking out. He'd turned a corner to find some guys holding up his unconcious brother, a gun to his head, and been forced to give himself up. He wasn't about to risk Al's life.

Times like these made him think somewhat longingly of the days when the only part of Al he had to be concerned about was the little three-inch wide array on his armor.

At least they'd placed him in a cell with Al this time. He was sure they had his little brother drugged up, but without knowing the drug, he couldn't use his knowledge of biological alchemy (and there was a lot of it) to help him.

Sometime later, more goons came in, and behind them the man who was Boss here. Said man regarded him for a while, until Ed gave him the finger. For some reason, this pissed the guy off.

"You will answer my questions, or we'll wake up your brother there and shoot him somewhere nonvital." Bossman said.

Ed snorted. "I'll tell you nothing!" Knowing full well he'd tell them everything, if it meant keeping Al safe.

"What technology do you use to change things?"

"It's called alchemy, idiot, and its pure science. Of course, none of you could use it."

"Why's that? Is the device specified to your physiology? We know it is somewhere inside your body, and we will find it--"

"No, you can't use it because you're not smart enough. You have to know a lot about everything, it takes time. No one over the age of thirty has any hope of becoming an alchemist. They just can't do it."

"I think you're lying to me. I think you don't want to give up your technology. And I think we should show you how serious we are." Bossman motioned to one of his goons, who raised his gun and cocked it back to shoot.

"You're lying, or else how could a child like you use such a thing? Answer me truthfully and this won't have to happen again." Another motion, and the guy's finger tightened around the trigger--

A wall shot up to stop the bullet, but the transmutation didn't stop there. Another part of the floor welled up into a giant fist, which slammed the men against the wall and sunk them into it. Ed was silently thankful their search of his pockets had missed the piece of chalk in the hem of his shirt. A white array was drawn blindly behind him.

Bossman was the only one still conscious. Ed stood up and went over to him, gaze icy cold. "Now, if you tell me the truth, I won't have to remove some limbs." He said. (2)

* * *

Ed had since regained his arm, wakened his brother, and remembered that Sam was kidnapped as well(3) just as he was at the door to freedom. Then he'd had to turn around and look for her, which took a bit but she was soon found to be drugged and in a hospital bed, none the worse for wear. The trio walked out of the building just as black vans were driving up, full of military guys ready to do some rescuing.

In the midst of the resulting confusion, Ed found himself before the Fuhrer.

"Fullmetal."

"Bastard."

"You're slipping. It took you nine hours to break out."

"Hey, I was knocked out for the first eight or so."

Mustang smirked. "No excuse." He taunted. "I'm surprised they could find you at all, being so lit--" Ed jumped forward to try and punch his Fuhrer.

Mustang sighed as the Fullmetal Alchemist was once again restrained from killing the leader of their country.(4)

* * *

(1) Mustang only had to raise his pay and research grants (a lot)

(2) If this scene was unclear, Bossman was under the impression that alchemy was a cover story for a device implanted in the body. He wanted such tech for himself, and orchestrated the kidnapping. Unfortunately, Ed wasn't so agreeable with the interrogation process.

(3) He'd forgotten in the rush to save Al from death and/or injury.

(4) He does this a lot.

If the quality of this story is degenerating (i.e. details and conversations and scenes skipped or gone over briefly) it's because I'm losing interest. Sorry. This is likely the last chapter, as the amount of plot in my mind is completely gone (and there wasn't that much to begin with).

I would like to thank all of my reviewers, who encouraged a continuation. Sorry it couldn't be a big multi-part, plotful thing.


End file.
